Straight bar knitting machines



E. START ET AL 3,320,773

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINES May 23, 1967 Filed DBC. 22, 1964 5Sheets-Sheet 1 May 23, 1967 E. START ET AL STRAIGHT BAR KNTTING MACHINES5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 22, 1964 May 23, 1967 E. START ET AL3,320,773

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 22, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 3United States Patent C) 3,320,773 STRAIGHT BAR KNIT'IING MACHINES ErnestStart, Ruddington, and Raymond Blood, Shepshed, Loughborough, England,assignors to William Cotton Limited Filed Dec. 22, 1964, Ser. No.420,311 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Dec. 27, 1963,51,673/ 63 6 Claims. (Cl. 66109) This invention is for improvements inor relating to Cottons patent or similar straight bar knitting machinesand primarily concerns coarse gauge machines.

The needle pitch of very coarse .gauge machines (i.e. 9, 6 or 41/2gauge) is such that unless the knitting elements are made of very thickmaterial the space between needle and sinker or knock over bits isexcessive. This makes it very difficult to control the loops, forinstance it is difhcult to hold the loops by the knock over bits whilstthe new loops are being pulled through in the knock over position.Similarly it is difficult to hold the loops down to a reasonable level,particularly the selvedge loop as the needles rise.

To make the elements out of very thick material also presentsdifficulties:

(a) The steel is difficult to punch and tears so badly that handfinishing is necessary to ensure a good finish to the edges.

(b) It is also difficult to obtain the intricate shape required.

(c) The weight of the finished elements is such that unless the machinesare run at a low speed excessive wear rapidly results, particularly tothe falling bar.

An obje-ct of the invention is to provide yarn control blade elements insuch improved manner in the machine that the aforesaid difficulties areavoided.

The invention provides a Cottons patent or similar straight bar knittingmachine having yarn controlling blade elements operable in duplicatebetween successive needles so that yarn for each needle can be drawnover a pair of the elements. Means may be provided for operating themachine with a yarn controlling motion modified to suit each needlesyarn being drawn over a pair of the elements. Conveniently at least thesinkers are provided in duplicate with a space between the sinkers ofeach pair thereof. The slurcock motion for sinking the yarn by thesinkers may be modified to suit each needles yarn being drawn over apair of the sinkers. Conveniently also the knocking over bits areprovided in duplicate with a space between the knocking over bits ofeach pair thereof. The needle bar lowering motion for drawing the yarnover sinkers and knocking over bits may be modified to suit each needlesyarn being drawn over a pair of the sinkers and a pair of the knockingover bits.

The invention also provides a Cottons patent or similar straight barknitting machine in which yarn is drawn by a lowering bar of needlesover yarn controlling blade elements between successive needles,characterized in that the controlling blade elements are provided induplicate between successive needles, and the duplicate elements areoperable by the machines slurcock so that yarn for each needle is drawnover a pair of the elements.

The invention further provides a knitting machine having a rowsimultaneously operable needles means for feeding yarn to the needles,means for lowering the needles, a row of yarn controlling blade elementsoperable in duplicate between successive needles, and slurcock meansoperable to advance said duplicate elements so that the lowering needlesdraw yarn for each needle over a pair of the elements.

The above and other features of the invention set out in the appendedclaims are incorporated in the construc- 3,320,773y Patented May 23,1967 tion which will now be described as a specific embodiment withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of sinkers and knocking over bitsaccording to the invention in a Cottons patent straight bar knittingmachine.

FIGURE 2 is a diagram illustrating a modified machine motion of thesinkers.

FIGURE 3 is a similar View to FIGURE 1 showing the knock over.

FIGURE 4 is a similar diagram to FIGURE 2 showing a modified machinemotion of the knocking over bits.

FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic plan view of sinkers being advanced by amodified slurcock in the machine.

FIGURE 6 is a cross sectional View of the machine showing relevant partsthereof.

Referring to FIGURE l a Cottons patent straight bar knitting machine isrepresented by a needle bar 1 having bearded needles 2, a thread carrier3 feeding yarn Y, a sinker bar 4, and a knocking over bar 5.

The sinkers 6 are of Iconventional shape but they are provided induplicate, that is to say that between each pair of adjacent needlesthere are two of the sinkers.

The sinkers of each pair of sinkers are spaced apart for which purposethe sinker bar 4 is suitably tricked as at 7.

Knocking over bits 8 may be of conventional form or as shown accordingto our co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 421,235, filed Dec.28, 1964.

The knocking over bits 8 are provided in duplicate in like manner to thesinkers 6, that is to say between the needles of each adjacent pairthereof there are two knocking over bits 8. The knocking over bits ofeach pair are spaced apart.

The machine, -being of the Cottons patent type, is represented furtherin FIGURE 6 by the usual cam operated mechanism for controlling theneedles. This lmechanism includes an arm 9 depending from the needle bar1 and connected to an arm 1t) which is coupled to an arm 11 dependingfrom a shaft 12. This is part of usual mechanism for effectinghorizontal movements of the needle bar 1 from a cam on the main camshaft 13. Also on the main cam shaft 13 is a needle lowering cam 14engaging a cam follower 15 which is connected to a shaft 16 on whichthere is also an arm 17 connected to the needle bar 1. The sinkers areadvanced by slurcock mechanism in usual manner, the slurcock beingindicated at 18 acting on jacks 19 ywhich act on the sinkers in usualmanner.

The effect of having duplicate sinkers 6 is illustrated in FIGURE 2which shows at the left hand `side the distance to which `sinkers arenormally advanced by the slurcocks when only single sinkers are usedbetween adjacent needles. The right hand side of FIGURE 2 shows thearrangement according to FIGURE l. It will be seen that in thisarrangement a part P of the yarn Y for each needle extends across a pairof the sinkers 6 and across the space between the pair of sinkers.

One advantage of this is that there is less space between the sinkersand the needles than there is between the sinkers and the needles in theconventional arrangement with single sinkers, and this enables bettercontrol of the yarn.

Another advantage is that because the parts P of the yarn extend acrossthe pairs or sinkers, the sinkers do not require to be advanced withsuch a long motion as in the conventional arrangement. Consequently theshape of the slurcock 18 can be modified by trimming back its forwardand forward-side edges, as shown in broken lines at 18a in FIGURE 5, toprovide for the shorter advance of the duplicate sinkers to suit theloops being drawn over them, and the motion of the sinkers isaccordingly smoother than usual because of the trimmed edges of theslurcock so that the speed of operation of the machine can be increased.

The knock over by the knock over bits 8 is illustrated in FIGURE 3, andone kadvantage of having the knockingover bits in duplicate is thatthere is less space than usual between the knocking over bits and theneedles which provides for better control of the yarn loops.

A further advantage is illustrated in FIGURE 4, the left hand side ofwhich shows the conventional knock over distance to which the needlesare lowered at the knock over. At the right hand side of FIGURE 4showing the pairs of knocking over bits, it will be seen that a part P1of each yarn loops L is drawn over a pair of the knocking over bits andacross the space between them.

In consequence of this the aforesaid needle lowering cam 14, FIGURE 6,can be modified to provide a shorter lowering movement than is usualwhich again enables running of the machine at increased speed. The camis modiied by trimming back its needle lowering nose 14a as indicated inbroken lines at 14b.

A still further advantage of the use of the sinkers in duplicate is thatthey provide for better selvedge control. In the conventionalarrangement with single sinkers each draw terminates with the advance ofthe sinkers catching up on the carrier, and this results in the angle ofthe yarn from the throat on the last fully drawn sinker to the carriertube becoming steeper, and if the sinker catches become slightly worn orthe carriers are set high, it is possible during the start of the nextdraw for the first sinker to be advanced under the yarn instead of theyarn being drawn by the sinker catchintofthe sinker throat.

With the duplicate sinker arrangement it will be seen from FIGURE 1 andFIGURE-5 that the leading sinker 6a of the selvedge pair of sinkers isadvanced yby the slurcam ahead of the trailer sinker 6b. The effect ofthis is that the leading sinker 6a, which is in a better position thanthe sinker 6b for its catch to engage the yarn, in fact engages the yarnand its catch urges the yarn downwardly to a position where it cannotfail to beengaged by the catch of the trailing sinker 6b.

What'we claim is:

1. In a straight bar knitting machine having a predetermined coarsegauge, in combination, a single row of needles extending parallel toeach other'in a iirst direction and consisting of all the needles of themachine extending in said irst direction, rsaid needles being spacedpredetermined equal pitch distances from each other according to saidcoarse gauge; and a row of yarn controlling means spaced predeterminedequal distances from each other, consecutive yarn controlling meansbeing located between consecutive adjacent needles and each including atleast one pair of like yarn controlling 'elements extending parallel toeach other in a second direction transverse to said iirst direction; andmeans for operating said row of yarn controlling means and said row ofneedles in timed relation, said operating means operating all theneedles extending in said first direction to cooperate with therespective yarn controlling means.

2. In a straight bar knitting machine having a predetermined coarsegauge, in combination, a single row of needles extending parallel toeach other in a first direction and consisting of all the needles of theymachine extending in said rst direction, said needles being spacedpredetermined equal pitch distances from each otherv according to saidcoarse gauge; and a row of yarn controlling means spaced predeterminedequal distances from each other, consecutive yarn Controlling meansbeing located between consecutive adjacent needles and each including apair of sinkers extending parallel to each other in a secon-d directiontransverse to said first direction; and means for operating said row ofpairs of sinkers and said row of needles in timed relation, saidoperating means operating all the needles extending in said firstdirection to cooperate with the respective yarn controlling means.

3. In a straight bar knitting machine having a predetermined coarsegauge, in combination, a single row of needles extending parallel toeach other in a tirst direction and consisting of all the needles of themachine extending in said first direction, said needles being spacedpredetermined equal pitch distances from each other according to saidcoarse gauge; and a row of yarn controlling means spaced predeterminedequal distances from each other, consecutive yarn controlling ymeansbeing located between consecutive adjacent needles and each including apair of knock over bits extending parallel to each other in a seconddirection transverse to said first direction; and means for operatingsaid -row of pairs of knock over bits, and said row of needles in timedrelation, said operating means operating all the needles extending in`said iirst direction to cooperate With the respective yarn controllingmeans.

4. In a straight bar knitting machine-having a predetermined coarse.gauge, in combination, a single row of needles extending parallel toeachother in a tir'st direction and consisting of all the needles of themachine extending in said first direction, said needles being spacedpredetermined equal pitch distances from each other according to saidcoarse gauge; vand a row of yarn controlling means spaced predeterminedequal distances from each other, consecutive yarn controlling meansbeing located between consecutive adjacent needles and each includingapair of sinkers and a pair of knock over bits extending parallel to eachother in a second direction transverse to said first direction; andmeans for operating said row of pairs of sinkers and knock over bits,and said row of needles in timed relation, said operating meansoperating all the needles extending in said first direction to cooperatewith the respective yarn controlling means.

5. In a straight bar knitting machine having a predetermined coarsegauge, in combination, a single row of needles extending parallel toeach other in a first direction `and consisting of all the needles ofthe machine extending in said iirst direction, said needles being spacedpredetermined equal pitch distances from each other according to saidcoarse gauge; and a row of yarn controlling means spaced predeterminedequal distances from each other, consecutive yarn controlling meansbeing located between consecutive adjacent needles and each including apair of sinkers extending parallel to each other in a second directiontransverse to said irst direction; and means for operating said row ofpairs of sinkers and said row of needles in timed relation,.saidoperating means operating all the needles extending in said firstdirection to cooperate with the respective yarn controlling means, andincluding a slur cock for moving said pairs of sinkers a predetermineddistance for kinking a given length of yarn into trapezoid shape betweenadjacent needles and a pair of sinkers between the same, lsaid distance,being less than required for kinking said given length of yarn over asingle'sinker into tri-y angular shape.

6. In a straight bar knitting machine having a predetermined coarsegauge, in combination, a single row of needles extending parallel toeach other in a first direction and consisting of all the needles of themachine extending in said iirst direction, said needles being spacedpredetermined equal pitch distances from each other according to saidcoarse gauge; and a row of yarn controlling means spaced predeterminedequal distances from each other, consecutive yarn controlling meansbeing located between consecutive adjacent needles and each including apair of knock over bits extending parallel to each other in a seconddirection transverse to said first direction; and means for operatingsaid row of pairs of knock over bits and said row of needles in timedrelation, said operating means operating all the needles extending insaid rst direction to cooperate with the respective References Cited bythe Examiner yarn controlling means, and including a cam for mov- UNITEDSTATES PATENTS ing said pairs of knock over bits a predetermined disytance for knocking over loops on Said needles in a knock geran overposition in which a given length of yarn extends 5 3059456 10/1962Brooke 66 8` along a trapezoid line between adjacent needles over a0631271 11/1962 Faust et-gi 66 8 pair of knock over bits, said distancebeing less than 3,066,511 12/1962 Brooke 65 8;

required for knocking over loops of the yarn by a single knock over bitwhile said given length of yarn extends ROBERT R. MACKEY, Acting PrimaryExaminer.

along a triangular line between adjacent needles and a 10 MERVIN STEIN,R FELDBAUM P C' FAW, single knock over blt. Assistant Examiners.

1. IN A STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE HAVING A PREDETERMINED COARSEGAUGE, IN COMBINATION, A SINGLE ROW OF NEEDLES EXTENDING PARALLEL TOEACH OTHER IN A FIRST DIRECTION AND CONSISTING OF ALL THE NEEDLES OF THEMACHINE EXTENDING IN SAID FIRST DIRECTION, SAID NEEDLES BEING SPACEDPREDETERMINED EQUAL PITCH DISTANCES FROM EACH OTHER ACCORDING TO SAIDCOARSE GAUGE; AND A ROW OF YARN CONTROLLING MEANS SPACED PREDETERMINEDEQUAL DISTANCES FROM EACH OTHER, CONSECUTIVE YARN CONTROLLING MEANSBEING LOCATED BETWEEN CONSECUTIVE ADJACENT NEEDLES AND EACH INCLUDING ATLEAST ONE PAIR OF LIKE YARN CONTROLLING ELEMENTS EXTENDING PARALLEL TOEACH OTHER IN A SECOND DIRECTION TRANSVERSE TO SAID FIRST DIRECTION; ANDMEANS FOR OPERATING SAID ROW OF YARN CONTROLLING MEANS AND SAID ROW OFNEEDLES IN TIMED RELATION, SAID OPERATING MEANS OPERATING ALL THENEEDLES EXTENDING IN SAID FIRST DIRECTION TO COOPERATE WITH THERESPECTIVE YARN CONTROLLING MEANS.